Acquisition Authority

The USSOCOM Commander has unique acquisition authorities and responsibilities. Title 10 United States Code, Section 167, vests the USSOCOM Commander with the responsibility and authority for the development and acquisition of Special Operations (SO)-peculiar equipment, the authority to exercise the functions of the head of agency, and the authority to execute funds. The Commander has delegated those authorities to the USSOCOM Acquisition Executive who leads SOF AT&L in executing them.

Congress has also provided USSOCOM with the specific appropriation funding, Major Force Program-11, to support the development, acquisition, and sustainment activities for SO-peculiar equipment. This funding gives us the ability to optimize equipment to satisfy the Command's unique mission requirements, and our distinct authorities allow us to carry out our acquisition functions to fulfill these requirements in a streamlined fashion.

In fiscal year 2014, the local SOF AT&L Contracting Office executed more than 11,480 contract actions, obligating $3 billion.